


Welcome to Lost Boys Ink

by fixme_in_fortyfive



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Band, M/M, Peterick, Soulmates, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-05-25 02:43:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6177040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fixme_in_fortyfive/pseuds/fixme_in_fortyfive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hey, look, it's another Soulmate AU with tattoos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I lost you before I found you, right?

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of you guys liked my ideas and I like when you guys like my ideas (duh~), so I decided to continue this as a real story. Besides, I have already figured out the basic plot. 
> 
> Thanks for the comments, kudos, bookmarks and everything!
> 
> As always: You find mistakes, you keep them, except for misplaced limbs and people.

Saturdays are no fun to work. Pete sighs and looks through the empty shop, the artwork hanging on the walls and the dozens of binders he knows contain even more. All his works; finished and unfinished, sketches on paper and real ink on skin.

But Saturdays are always slow – in regards to walk-in customers – and so far only a young couple came in that morning to make appointments for later next week. He shouldn't have given Joe the day off, now he’s stuck here all alone. Maybe he'll close up early today, it's his shop after all and he can do as he pleases.

His gaze falls on the showcase, or rather on the short guy standing in front of it. He seems to be looking at the storefront, maybe debating on whether to come in or not. He's definitely a first timer, a tattoo-virgin. Well, except for that one tattoo they all share. Without turning his eyes away Pete rubs a finger over his gloved wrist where his soulmate-tattoo hides. The name of the one person who is waiting just for him - Patrick Martin Stumph, but the ‘Martin’ and ‘h’ of Stumph is inked much lighter than the other letters. He probably only goes by Patrick Stump.

Pete loves the concept of that one person somewhere out there, one person that's just right for you. The thought had kept him going a lot of times when depression wanted to push him down. Somewhere Patrick is waiting for him and he can’t disappoint him.

His soulmate-tattoo is what sparked his interest in tattoos in the first place; when he was first old enough he started his sleeve, integrating Patrick's name perfectly into the design, like it was always supposed to be part of it. The writing looked kind of unruly and scrawny at first, but the more Pete looked at them, the more they looked just… right.

And most of his customers wanted just the same, something of them to connect with their tattoo.

But this guy is not inked like that, not yet maybe. With the red cardigan he’s wearing and the thick-rimmed glasses on his nose he looks out of place like a polar bear on the beach.

And the guy is now coming into the shop. Pete tries to look busy, like he hadn't watched him for the last five minutes, shuffling papers around on the counter. The little bell above the shop door announces the guy’s entrance and Pete looks up again – like he just noticed – and shoots him a friendly smile.

"Welcome to Lost Boys Ink!" Pete’s leaning on the counter and the guy stops a few feet away, looking questioning at Pete.

"Are you Ace?"

"Yep, that's me. What can I do for you? Gonna get your first tattoo?" Pete is still smiling. Even though the guy doesn’t look inked right now, Pete can totally see it. He has such a light complexion, with flawless skin and blonde hair, the contrast would look amazing.

"No, actually I have a tattoo I want removed.”

"You don't say. Is it something embarrassing? Drunken adventure?" He can’t imagine this guy making any rash decisions to get a tattoo, but it wouldn’t be the first time Pete saw it happen.

"No, it's my soulmate-tattoo. I got told you remove those." The guy is looking uncomfortable now.

And Pete can see why. Yes, he does remove them, but it’s not common and not really ‘ _socially acceptable_ ’. As far as he knows he is the only one in the whole state of Illinois who removes soulmate-tattoos at all. If the guy had been to other tattoo-shops before, he has probably heard a few unkind things about his wish. But not everybody is a fan of that ‘ _love one person for the rest of your life_ ’-concept and Pete understands it.

"I do. Show it to me, so I can see what I can do."

He switches on the light over the counter. The guy is already rolling up his cardigan on his left arm and stretches it out towards Pete.

But when Pete grabs the wrist and pulls it into the light, he almost wishes he had not, wishes he had closed the shop before the guy stepped in. Because that guy has Pete’s fucking name tattooed on his wrist - in Pete’s bold-lettered handwriting.

That guy is his soulmate and he wants Pete to remove the tattoo.

He feels like he’s just been punched. Or drowning. This is his soulmate. Patrick, whom he had been waiting for all this time. And he should tell him that, he wants to tell him that.

But he can’t. Patrick – and it's kind of weird to call him by his name, too intimate for someone he just met and shouldn't know the name of - doesn’t want to meet his soulmate and obviously doesn’t even want to be reminded of such a thing.

If Joe were here he would make Pete tell. If Pete is ‘ _pro-soulmate_ ’, Joe is their leader. Probably because he already found his soulmate and they’re living happily ever after right now.

Of course there's always a possibility that you never meet your soulmate or it just doesn’t work out, but you never think about the worst case. You think about all the great chances - friendship, love, someone to share everything with. And Pete wants that, always wanted that. He wants to be that for someone, too.

What is he supposed to do? When he looks at Patrick again his stomach sinks. Not standing here like an idiot rubbing his thumb against Patrick's wrist is probably a good first step.

"Well…” Pete starts and tries to pull his hand back without looking like a weirdo. Patrick already looks at him as if he’s questioning Pete’s sanity.

“Can you do it?" Patrick asks and pulls his hand back, too, rolling the sleeve of his cardigan down until its even covering his hand. It’s such an obvious move, to hide, Pete knows exactly what that feels like.

He is glad he’s wearing gloves right now, covering his own tattoo. To Pete, his name on Patrick’s skin instantly felt right. But Patrick wants it removed and that kind of stings – more than Pete wants to admit.

"Yeah... sure.” Pete has the tools and skills to do it and if it were anybody else he wouldn’t even hesitate. But this is Patrick, the one he's been holding on for and waited for. Pete is not sure he can do it emotionally.

“May I… ask why you want it removed?” It’s none of his business, but he wants to know it, needs to know it. Pete stands perfectly still, just tapping his foot where Patrick can’t see it behind the counter to release the nervous energy, waiting for Patrick's answer.

And his answer might be the only one Pete can understand.

"Because nobody asked me if I wanted it in the first place and I’m not going to let some tattoo dictate who I fall in love with." Patrick looks confident when he says it and Pete almost feels bad for him.

"Besides, he's probably some rich snob. Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz the THIRD?", he then says and Pete's sympathy flies out the window. Really, like he hadn’t heard that one before.

"If you don’t want to do it, you can just say so, you wouldn’t be the first."

And this right here is Pete’s ‘ _get out of jail_ ’-card. He doesn’t have to do it.

But if Patrick wants the tattoo removed it’s only a matter of time until he finds someone else and for a moment Pete thinks… if anyone erases his name from Patrick’s wrist forever, then he wants to be the one do it. Crazy, right?

 "No, I’ll do it,” he begins and it’s not at all what he wanted to say because needs more time to think this through, maybe talk to Joe, so he backtracks, “I mean, I have to check… with my friend, Joe, if we have open spots.”

He hopes Patrick doesn’t see through his play, but judging by the way his face gets all hopeful Pete is sure he hasn’t.

“Why don’t you come back on monday, I have it figured out by then.”

“That’s the closest to a ‘ _yes_ ’ I’ve ever heard on this topic. Thank you!" And for the first time since he entered Pete’s shop, Patrick doesn’t look uncomfortable or tense, he even smiles a little before he’s turning around to leave.

The door-bell rings again, this time when Patrick leaves the shop, the door falling shut behind him.

When Patrick disappears behind the corner – out of his eyesight – Pete drops his head onto the counter, just barely fight off the urge to bash his head against the counter. It wouldn’t help this situation at all. He really should have closed before Patrick got in, but that’s too late now.

He is so, so screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited for this, I hope I can keep myself as motivated as I am now!
> 
> If you like it, leave a comment or shoot me an ask on my [tumblr](http://thatguyinachiffonskirt.tumblr.com/) (still self-promoting, because nobody else does)


	2. Want a free ticket to leave me behind?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long. I wrote this thing... and then I wrote it again from Patrick’s Perspective.. and then I sat there for weeks, unable to decide which way to go. Ugh. Well, I finally decided and here you go.
> 
> As always: You find mistakes, you keep them, except for misplaced limbs and people.

On monday morning, when Pete gets to the shop – already late because he overslept – he still hasn’t made up his mind.

Pete spent his day off on sunday thinking about it. When he got home the day before -  he closed up immediately after Patrick left -  he tried to think it through rationally. But there was no way he could, it just hit too close to home. He told Joe and the conversation went as he already expected. Joe had been adamant that he should tell Patrick. But Pete had already spend a good amount of time thinking about all the horrible outcomes.

From disgust and hate to indifference. In Pete’s mind this could not end well, even though Patrick seemed really nice. But a part of him still wants the chance of… something. Pete doesn’t expect a big cliché movie-like ending, but something. Anything.

While he’s distracting himself at work – acutally waiting for Patrick to show up - his mind is still racing. He’s nervous and can barely contain himself. The coffee he had earlier is not helping right now, making him feel even more on edge. He restocks all their supplies and arranges their cabinets. Pete thinks he might be driving Joe mad with all his fiddling. He is pacing through the shop, mumbling either ‘ _I’m gonna tell him_ ’ or ‘ _No, no you can’t, idiot_ ’. Joe has stopped responding a while ago, but keeps glancing at Pete when he thinks Pete can’t see it.

Whenever the door opens and another customer comes in Pete runs to the workroom to hide, holding his breath for a few seconds until it becomes clear that it’s not Patrick this time either.

But when the door opens again and it is Patrick coming in, Pete can’t hide, because Joe is holding him in place.

“That’s him, right?” Joe just asks, hand on Pete’s arm.

“How do you know?”

They’re whispering until Patrick is standing right before them, smiling first at Joe, then at Pete.

“Here I am again.” Pete tugs at his gloves, checking if they’re still covering his traitorous tattoo and loosens of Joes grip.

“Right. Hi. This is Joe, my buddy who’s helping around here. Great tattoo artist.”

Patrick shakes hands with Joe, who easily engages him into conversation. This right here is why he keeps him around. He can take over when Pete has a nervous breakdown. Pete watches them talk about this and that - Joe talking about work and Patrick listening with bright eyes, nodding here and there.

“So, you guys should talk, right?” Joe looks at him expectantly.

“Yeah, follow me.” He jabs his thumbs up to point behind him and leads Patrick back to their small workroom, gesturing for him to take a seat on one of the stools.

“I have to tell you, I’m glad that I finally found someone to remove this tattoo.” Patrick says, his voice laced with glee.

“Really?” Pete’s stomach sinks a little at that, a little more than before.

“Yeah, ever since I was a teenager I just wanted it… gone. I heard stories about people meeting their soulmate at random – the supermarket or something. I couldn’t think of anything worse. Just thinking about that guy, running around thinking he has some kind of ownership to me.” Pete can actually see Patrick shuddering at the thought.

And that’s when he knows he can’t tell him. All the time he spend debating the pros and cons amount to nothing now. Patrick is right, Pete has no right whatsoever. And if Pete had met Patrick at random, he would have kind of ambushed him – not because he thinks Patrick owes him something, but because he would have been just so happy and excited.

“Well… congratulations,” he says, the words stuck on his tongue like lead “when it's done you won’t ever have to worry about this again, I won’t even leave a scar.”

The double meaning is not lost on Pete. All the nervous energy he felt just moments before, weights on his chest, but somehow now that he's made up his mind he’s feeling calmer. The next part he knows, it’s what he’s good at.

The next half hour Pete spends explaining to Patrick the whole process, showing him the tools he will be using and what to expect. Patrick keeps his attention on him the whole time and Pete tries to ignore it as best he can and not show his crappy mood.

“If you’re free we can start right now. It usually takes only two or three sessions to remove a soulmate-tattoo. The ink is different so it takes less to remove it… but, it’s more painful. Win some, lose some, right? It will get lighter with each session until it won’t be visible at all anymore.” Pete snaps his mouth shut when he notices he started rambling a bit. But Patrick is nodding along, not noticing at all. 

“Great, let’s do this.”

Pete grabs the laserpen from the table and motions at Patrick’s arm, still covered by the cardigan he’s wearing.  “Roll up your sleeve and put your arm on the table.”

Pete is working mechanically now, every step something he did countless times before. Disinfect tattooed skin, startup laserpen, trace ink, disinfect, tape up. When he starts up the pen, the familiar humming fills the room, calming Pete even more. It’s loud enough even for Joe to hear it in the front and that’s likely the reaons why his head is peeking around the corner just a few seconds later.

“What are you doing?” It sounds a little accusing and Pete gives him a glare, waving the laserpen into the air for Joe to see.

“I’m starting with the removal of Patrick’s soulmate-tattoo.”

“I see.”

When Joe’s head disappears again behind the corner Pete focuses back on Patrick, who is looking confused at the door.

“What was that about?”

“Oh, don’t worry. Joe is just… not a great fan of removing soulmate-tattoos.”

Patrick just nods to that, so Pete goes on.

“Let’s get this party started. If the pain becomes too much, just say something and we’ll take a break.”

As Pete tries different intensities of the laserpen on Patrick’s skin, watching out for excessive redness or rashes, neither of them speak. The humming of the machine is the only sound in the room. The longer the silence goes on, the calmer Pete gets. He thinks he can really do it. With steady hands he holds Patrick’s arm in place and guides the laserpen gently over the different letters of his own name. He could say it feels like he’s erasing himself, but he feels strangely okay. It’s Patrick’s decision and he’s not a bad person for it. Life goes on.

“So, you’re obviously into tattoos. How did that happen?”

The sudden question breaking through the silence between them startles Pete and he jerks the laserpen back, so as not to break the skin. He looks up at Patrick, who in turn looks like he just broke a vase in a porcelain-shop.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt you. I just, I guess I always thought you’d have to be pretty chatty, to be around people all day.”

“It’s okay." Pete takes a breath before he continues.

“I just like art, in every form, and it helps me keep my head clear, release all the clutter. Besides, my soulmate-tattoo”, he stops again - just for a second - at that, unsure if he should tell Patrick, but then he keeps going “my soulmate-tattoo looked lonely.”

“Have you met your soulmate?”

Pete wants to snort, but manages not to. He must have pissed someone seriously off, Patrick sure as hell knows how to push Pete’s buttons.

“Yes, but it didn’t work out.” It sounds sad, even to Pete's own ears. The room falls silent again and Pete moves on to his work. This time he’s not startled when Patrick speak again.

“Doesn’t that make you mad?”

He doesn’t look up again, just stops the motion of his hand, pausing his work.

“What?” He rubs his gloved fingers over his eyes. Pete is not sure if Patrick means what he thinks he means.

“Well, you did all – this…” Patrick gestures with his free hand in Pete’s general direction “for someone you didn’t even know. Someone society thought you should be with. And it didn’t work out and now you have nothing.”

Pete pulls away from Patrick’s skin again – this time as if he’d been burned - gazing up at him from where he is crouched close to Patrick’s arm. Did he really just say that?

“That is… a pretty insensitive thing to say, man.” Pete is shocked, if he’s honest. Even knowing the reasons for Patrick’s wish to remove his soulmate-tattoo, he hadn’t thought him to be so ignorant. It twists the calm and heavy feeling in Pete’s chest into something colder, more resolved. He’s almost glad now, that he hasn’t told Patrick who he is. Not wanting a soulmate is one thing, but being so insensitive about it is something different. It’s not like choosing to wear or don’t wear socks.

Patrick’s eyes widen instantly, when Pete’s words register. “Sorry, no, I didn’t mean.. I...”

“Yeah, well, just because you don’t believe in this, doesn’t give you a right to judge other people’s decision or… trample over their beliefs and feelings.”

“Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way, I just don’t get it.” Pete is still staring at Patrick, gaze hard, watching him fluster and fidget. When Pete grabs Patrick’s arm again, not nearly as gentle as before, Patrick almost pulls away.

“Believe me, I know. The fact that I remove your soulmate-tattoo, tells me as much. I have to concentrate here, maybe we should stop talking now.”

He sees Patrick nodding and goes back to work. Before he continues he blinks a couple of time, taking deep breaths. If Pete had been unsure about his decision before, he wasn’t anymore.  

The rest of the sessions keeps going on in silence. If Patrick is in pain he doesn't show it., until Pete finishes scraping off the first layer of ink on Patrick’s wrist. His name is still visible, but lighter and not as vibrant as before. He sprays the skin – now slightly red – with a disinfectant and tapes a layer of plastic wrap over it.

“I guess it’ll take another two sessions, then we’re done.” Pete says, keeping his voice distant. What Patrick said made him so mad. He can accept Patricks decision, but what he said judges Pete and his decisions and that's not something Pete likes in people.

Patrick just nods, but he opens his mouth a few times, as if he wants to say something, but thinks better of it.

“You can make another appointment with Joe in the front. I have to clean this up.”

Without another word Patrick stands up, pulls the sleeve of his cardigan over the taped up skin on his arm and leave the small workroom. Pete can hear him talk to Joe in the front before he hears the telltale ringing of the doorbell.

Well, that went phenomenal, right? Pete just sighs and lets his head sink down on the table before him. At least now he’s not conflicted about this anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is. If you like it, leave a comment or kudos or whatever, I take everything! O_O I mean it!
> 
> And I'll leave my [tumblr](http://thatguyinachiffonskirt.tumblr.com/) here real quick (still self-promoting, because nobody else does, seriously!)


	3. Push me away and Pull me closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this a while ago, but, y’know, life happened and I put that away for a bit. I hope to get into it again and finish this, so stay tuned. And thanks for all the comments and kudos and asks I got from you people. :)

This time, Pete is not waiting for Patrick to come by the store, he is decidedly not waiting. Instead he busies himself with work - finishing a couple of new designs he needs for upcoming appointments - and stays hidden in the small workroom.

That’s where he still is when Patrick gets there.

“Knock knock.”

Pete looks up, surprised by the intrusion, because he hadn’t noticed how the time flew by. Somehow his diversionary tactic worked better than expected.

“Sorry, come in, I hadn’t noticed how late it is.” He motions for Patrick to come closer, remembering almost too late that he’s not wearing any gloves and hastily ducks to grab a pair from where the hidden box under the table before he starts packing away the stray designs cluttering the surface.

“Give me a minute to pack this stuff up.” He’s nervous, but it’s not like before. Pete feels more like Patrick is now judging his every move. It’s unsettling.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got time. I… brought you a coffee.” Patrick says and places a cup in front of Pete. He recognizes the cup, it’s from his favorite coffee place – so far off his way to work that most days he can’t make it -  and when he picks it up to take a whiff it smells like caramel, his favorite.

 “Joe told me. I asked him, because I felt really bad, after last time. Look, I’m sorry if what I said last time went too far.”

Patrick is fumbling with the sleeves of his shirt, pulling it over his hands in a nervous motion. It looks adorable.

“Just… I’m not a fan of this whole soulmate thing and when you said that it didn’t work out for you… But I’m sorry if I went too far and I’m sorry that it didn’t work out for you and this is my peace offering.”

Pete looks at Patrick, with his open face and his eyes wide, honest and not hiding anything. It makes it hard not to like him. He turns the cup around in his hand.

“Just so you know, bribery is frowned upon.” Pete says, but takes a sip from the cup none the less and sighs happily when the taste hits his tongue. He just loves coffee, that would be his greatest weakness.

“As long as it works, I can live with the judgment.”

“I don’t have to like you, to remove your tattoo, you know that, right?”

“Well yeah… but I think it would be much nicer to not sit in silence for hours. Besides, you’re still working with an actual laser on my body. I want to make sure I’m not ending up with a dick on my skin.”

There’s a moment of silence where Patrick may be waiting for Pete to laugh at his joke, but then he doesn’t.

“Does it work?” There’s a small smile on Patrick’s lips, just one corner of his mouth turned up. Adorable. Maybe coffee isn’t Pete’s greatest weakness.

“I guess.” Pete takes another sip.

“Great. Then I’ll let you clean this up and then we can start.”

Great, Pete thinks, not really smiling back at Patrick as he packs away the last of the designs. Patrick sits himself down by the table, rolling up his shirtsleeve as he does so. Without looking at his arm too closely Pete can see that the ink faded better than expected. He did a good job last time.

As he cleans the skin and starts up the laserpen, neither of them talks, but it’s not awkward like last time. Pete takes a last sip from his coffee before puts it to the side.

“Just for the record,” he says, not looking at Patrick, “I’m not mad about my tattoos and I don’t regret them.” He’s not sure why he picks that topic up again, but he feels like he just has to say this.

“The tattoos are as much about me as they are about him. That was the idea behind it.”

As he speaks he moves the pen over Patrick’s tattoo, his hand gently holding the skin tight. Patrick is just sitting still and waits for him to go on.

“I took something from him, something I had nothing to do with, and combined it with something I love, something that's about me. In the end I created an us. And that's what I think it's all about.”

Somehow it feels like he just poured his heart. That’s what he always wanted his soulmate to know and even though Patrick doesn’t know that, Pete does.

“When you say it like this it sounds really nice.” 

Pete looks up, surprised. Patrick is intently staring at his own arm, almost mesmerized.

“It does, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.” 

Pete looks back down and keeps on working. Another session, maybe, then Patrick will be free of him. He’s trying not to thinks too much about it as he traces the ‘t’ and ‘z’. He can trace the letters easily in his own hand-writing.

“So, Ace is an interesting name.”

Pete smiles without looking up, still concentrating on the task at hand. “Is that so?”

“Yeah. What does it mean?”

It’s actually one of Pete’s favorite topics, because it’s another thing he really loves.

“It’s a Peter Pan reference.”

Patrick makes a little ‘ _hmpf_ ’ sound, but doesn’t say anything else.

“I don’t get it.” Almost no one ever does.

 “Peter Pan and the lost boys? Lost Boys Ink?” Pete talks while he moves the laserpen across Patrick’s skin, re-starting the process with the ‘p’ and ‘e’ of his first name.

“In the movie adaption Ace was one of the lost boys and the actor is actually from Chicago. I love that story, so I thought it was fitting. I even…” Pete stops himself before he can tell Patrick about the tattoo between his fingers that show the directions to Neverland. He would have to take his gloves off.

“You what?”

“Oh… Nothing. Forget it.”

“So, Pete Pan. Who would have thought the tough looking guy with all the tattoos has a soft spot for children’s literature.”

 “I see. So we are paste the point where you’re nice to the guy that’s holding a laser to your skin, bold move.”

They both have to laugh after that, Patrick’s laughter more infectious than Pete likes to admit. It looks like he’s really trying hard not to shake his whole body.  Afterwards they fall into easy conversation, jokes and smiles included. Pete is surprised how easy it comes now. Patrick talks about what he does – he’s working as a producer at a small label – and Pete just shares crazy tattoo stories.  They don’t talk about soulmates again.

 “So, another session and we should be done.” Pete finally says, again spraying a disinfectant on Patrick’s irritated skin and wrapping plastic wrap over it.  

“Great, I’ll make an appointment with Joe and then I’ll see you next time.”

They shake hands – Pete wants to think that Patrick lingered a little longer than necessary but that was probably just wishful thinking - and when Patrick leaves this time Pete is feeling pretty good. He wonders how long that will last.

But it’s just one more session, Pete reminds himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not as happy as I was with the previous chapters, maybe because nothing much happens. But there is more (exciting) stuff to come. If you like it, leave a comment or a kudos, I’d really appreciate it. And if you don't like it, leave a comment, too, I'm open for critisism.
> 
> Or shoot me an ask on my [tumblr](http://thatguyinachiffonskirt.tumblr.com/) (still self-promoting, because nobody else does)


	4. It's not over yet, is it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, thanks for all the comments and kudos <3 You're all amazing.  
> It's getting closer to the end, so buckle up. At this point, I don't know how this will end. Boyo, this thing went off the track I had planned, but I kinda like it.

Pete’s last session with Patrick goes by in a blur or it seems that way to Pete. Patrick had brought coffee again and some delicious cupcakes – in a bag that Pete rips from Patrick’s hand, but gives back to him after he claims the best for himself. Soulmate or not, if it’s about coffee or baked goods, all men fend for themselves.

They talk about this and that, Patrick asking questions about Pete’s tattoos, intentionally or not avoiding his soulmate-tattoo hidden, as usual, under Pete’s gloves and Pete getting into all the stories behind them. Not every tattoo has a deep and meaningful story; some are just results of drunken adventures and adolescent foolishness.

And Pete learns that music is to Patrick what tattoos are to Pete. Patrick doesn’t seem to even think about it when he starts describing what it makes him feel and how it inspires him. Pete tries to keep focused on his work, but catching himself stopping every now and then, looking at Patrick, whose eyes shine with excitement.

Joe joins them at one point, probably bored alone in the front or just meddling. He and Patrick seem to get along great, too. Patrick just fits right in with them, like he’s supposed to be there. Pete should stop finding all these ironic twists and turns in this scenario.

It’s just as Joe leaves them alone again to sit in the front that Pete is finishing up the last bit of Patrick’s tattoo. His name on Patrick’s skin is almost gone, a shadow, like someone drew on his skin with a pen and it’s all rubbed off.

And even though he feels crappy about that, he’s also glad he met Patrick and that he decided to do the removal.

He likes Patrick, he does and he wants him to be happy and he wants to see the happy look on his face when Pete is telling him that it’s done.

With a deep breath he lays the laserpen down and shuts off the machine, rolls backwards away on his stool to get the disinfectant and a last after-care package.

"This was your last session. Here’s a little care-package for you. Just use the cream-”

“But I can still see it.”

Pete looks up at Patrick with a raised brow, the package in his hands as he rolls back towards him again and placing it on the table between them.

“It will fade away over the next couple of days – that is if you use the cream and follow the instructions I’m trying to give to you.”

Patrick’s cheeks turn red – probably embarrassed for jumping the gun.

“...thank you!”

Pete dismisses it with a wave of his hand, pushing the care-package closer to Patrick. With quick fingers he wipes the skin clean with the disinfectant and covers it up with a plastic wrap.

“No, really, you helped me a lot. I’m glad I walked into your shop. I almost gave up.”

Looking up again Pete sees the look he’s been waiting for, Patrick’s eyes shining with happiness and his lips stretched into a wide grin he can’t hide. He can see that Patrick means it. It feels like a warm blanket and an ice bucket thrown over him at the same time.

“You’re welcome.”

Pete’s smile is forced and he hopes Patrick doesn’t notice. He waits a few seconds to see if Patrick wants to say something else, but Patrick just gets up from where he’s sitting, rolling down the sleeve of his cardigan – the same he wore the first day Pete saw him - turns around to go and Pete follows. It feels like he has to drag his feet because they don’t want Patrick to go either.

He should say something. No, he shouldn’t. It’s too late. God, this feels like right before Patrick’s first session when he debated himself over whether to tell Patrick or not.

He’s lost in his own thoughts and doesn’t notice Patrick stopping in the doorway, prompting him to almost walk into him.

He’s about to apologize when Patrick swings around, words spilling from his lips.

“Can I buy you a drink… sometime?”

It’s most definitely not what Pete had expected and with all that has happened he never had thought about that, because it’s so out of the question, it’s ridiculous.

So ridiculous that Pete freezes and even Patrick can see it and jumps into a hurried explanation.

“As a thank you. It doesn’t have to be a date or something. Although I would like that, but of course I can understand if you doesn’t. What with me being your customer and with what I said about your soulmate and I’m still sorry about that and maybe it’s weird, that’s why I waited until you finished and now I fell like an idiot and I’m just gonna shut up now.”

Patrick presses his lips together. They look at each other and Pete hides a laugh under his breath.

He wants to say yes, desperately, but he has to say no, he can’t do that. Nothing would ever come off it, he would always have to hide this huge thing and that wouldn’t even work. Pete would always have to be careful not to say or show too much and it’s just a bad, bad idea.

“Okay.”

He should have said no and now he is scribbling down the address of his favorite bar on a crumbled piece of paper, folding it before holding it out to Patrick.

Patrick doesn’t even know his real name.

 “I know this great bar, maybe I see you there tonight and you can buy me a drink.”

Patrick takes the paper, holding it carefully between his fingers and smiles at Pete with something that looks like affection.

This is what should have happened between them. Something easy. No confusion and anger, no one being uncomfortable and resentful. And it could have if they met under different circumstances. But maybe it’ll all work out in the end anyway.

 “I’m looking forward to it.”

 “Yeah, me too.”

Another heartbeat and Patrick turns again to leave and Pete wants to follow, but Patrick stops again and this time Pete does walk into him.

“Sorry. But- we never talked about payment.” Patrick rubs his neck, blushing a little.

And Pete should have thought about that before, too, but it slipped his mind.

“I actually don’t charge for this.” 

The words hang in the space between them and when they register with Patrick his face looks all scrunched up, nose wrinkled and his eyebrows drawn low in confusion.

“As you said, nobody asked you if you wanted it, so why should you pay to have it removed? I think you shouldn’t. It’s a policy.”

Which is true, but Pete thinks even if it weren’t, he would not charge Patrick, could not. He can see Patrick thinking through what Pete just said, his features relaxing after a few seconds.

“That’s- generous. You surprise me yet again.”

When Patrick turns around for the third time it’s for good, he leaves the shop, after saying his goodbye to Joe.

It takes only a few seconds after the door falls shut and Joe is standing in front of Pete in the backroom.

“So you’re finally having a hot date with your soulmate?”

He’s avoids looking at Joie, instead busying his hands with cleaning up papers.

“No, I’m possibly having a drink with Patrick. And you should really not eavesdrop. What would Marie say to that?”

“Oh, she wants a play-by-play when I get home, for sure. And what are you doing about this?” Next Joe had Pete’s arm up on eye-level and pulls of the glove from Pete’s hands. “Wear your gloves for your date?”

Pete thinks that’s an excellent question, one he hadn’t thought about yet, since he never met Patrick outside his little shop.

“I’ll think of something, don’t worry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual: If you like it, leave a comment or a kudos, I’d really appreciate it. And if you don't like it, leave a comment, too, I'm open for critisism.
> 
> Or shoot me an ask on my [tumblr](http://thatguyinachiffonskirt.tumblr.com/) (still self-promoting, because nobody else does)


	5. Let's crash and burn this thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks you so much for all the comments, kudos, bookmarks and everything! :) It makes me so happy every time. 
> 
> Buckle up, it's getting close to the end now and before it get's better the darkness gets bigger, right? (heheh)
> 
> As always: You find mistakes, you keep them, except for misplaced limbs and people.

When Pete leaves for his _not-date_ he is excited and nervous. He picked out a long-sleeved shirt and a leather bracelet for his wrist to hide his tattoo.

The bar is crowded, but not packed, when he arrives and he secures a seat for himself and Patrick in a corner booth – a little off from the mass of people, but not overly intimate. From where he’s sitting he can see the entrance, so he’ll see when Patrick walks in.

He doesn’t want to get drunk today, but orders a vodka straight just to calm his nerves. He still has no idea what he expects to come off this. At this point he can only tell him and let the chips fall where they may.

Since they hadn’t set up a time to meet up Pete has no idea when Patrick will come, but he guesses eight is a good time. People meet at eight, right?

Eight-ish, by the clock on Pete’s phone. When his drink comes up he downs it in one go. He keeps looking at the doors, then across the bar, then back to the doors. He doesn’t want to look like he’s just desperately waiting here for Patrick, but he can’t keep his eyes from wandering to the doors.

People come and people go, but Patrick is nowhere in sight. The drink did nothing to calm his nerves, his legs shaking under the table.

Maybe he’s just late, it happenes. He will probably be totally flustered about it and apologize to Pete and Pete will wave it away, because it’s no big deal.

When the server asks if he wants to have another drink he looks at his clock. Almost nine, another drink can’t hurt.

Before his drink arrives and while Pete is momentarily distracted by a group of young people at the pool tables his view get’s blocked by someone.

He hadn’t even noticed anyone approaching and he instantly feels his palms get a little sweaty, his nerves racking up again as he looks up.

But it’s not Patrick. It’s just a girl that says he saw him sitting here all alone and now is leaning over the table to show off her low-cut top. Pete tries hard to be nice, let her down easy and not show his disappointment that she’s the wrong kind of small blonde. Soon enough she leaves and the server arrives with his drink.

This time he savors the drink, taking small sips and by the time he’s finished it’s just past ten. His thoughts are already a little slow, two straight drinks on an empty stomach, but his head is clear enough to realize that Patrick won’t come. It’s past the time to be late, past flustered apologies.

With a silent sight he waves over the server to order another drink.

 ~

When Pete left for his _not-date_ he was excited and nervous.

Five days later and he went from excited and nervous to disappointed to confused to resigned.  And probably a few more emotions that are too sappy compared to how little of a time he actually has known Patrick.

So Patrick didn’t show, big deal. It’s not like they made a fix plan to meet up and it’s not like Pete hadn’t been stood up before. He wasted a few hours in a bar waiting for him. He probably would have gone there anyway. But he wouldn’t have been looking at the door eve few minutes to check if Patrick walked in while he was looking at his drink.

It was a stupid idea anyway, right?

“Right.”

“What?”

Joe is looking at him strangely. Like he had just been talking out loud to himself. Again.

“Nothing.”

It’s enough of an answer for Joe to go back to the magazine he’s been reading. He had been so disappointed when Pete had told him how he got stood up. Joe was probably as invested in this as Pete himself. This probably crushed his last hope of Pete’s soulmate-happy-ending. Well, welcome to the club.  

Still, Pete had been sure Patrick would show up and Patrick had seemed excited, too. And it’s not only that he didn’t show up, no, he never came by the shop either. Pete has no idea what happened between Patrick leaving his shop and him not showing up.

He’s past the point of convincing himself something horrible happened to Patrick and he just couldn’t make it. Not like life-threatening horrible, just…. _my-cat-was-sick-and-I-couldn’t-leave-the-house-bad_ or _my-sense-of-direction-is-really-bad-and-I-couldn’t-find-the-bar-or-your-shop-again-bad_.

Yeah, not very likely. So he resigned himself to never knowing. It just so haunts his thoughts. But he’s keeping busy – again – not thinking about Patrick – again. Pete feels like half the time he thought about Patrick was when he was trying not to think about him.

And then he’s standing outside Pete’s shop, looking in through the window like the first day Pete saw him standing there. Pete almost smiles, until he sees the grim look on Patrick’s face when he opens the door – the little bell above the door announcing his arrival.  

“Hey, Patrick, long time no see.” Joe is next to Pete in a second, all friendly small talk, but Patrick’s eyes never leave Pete’s face. He doesn’t smile at Joe and he doesn’t answer besides a curt nod of acknowledgment.

Pete guesses this is not any social visit.

“I missed you at the bar,” Pete says and tries for a weak smile. He knows it’s weak because he doesn’t really feel like smiling. Patrick’s whole body posture screams at Pete and not in a good way. It’s tense and it changes the whole atmosphere in the space between them. Joe steps back when obviously nobody is going to talk to him.

“Yeah, funny thing happened. I was getting ready and when I was looking at the address you gave me-”

He pulls out the crumpled piece of paper Pete gave him, now even more wrecked than when Pete first gave it to him.

“-I thought to myself that looks familiar, Peter.”

In this moment – for Pete – everything stops. The all too familiar feeling of dread in his stomach weights him down.

Patrick looks down at the paper between them, lying between them almost innocently. But this little piece of innocent paper changed everything.

“I spend a lot of time looking at my soulmate-tattoo when I was growing-up. I spend hours looking at it and hating it. So much that I would recognize the handwriting, probably anywhere. And definitely when I can compare it.”

Pete pales. That had never crossed his mind. He gave Patrick a piece of paper with his handwriting, while he spend hours removing the same handwriting from his wrist. The handwriting that was still visible when they parted that day.

There’s a lump in his throat that won’t go down no matter how often he swallows. He’s not surprised that his voice comes out raspy and rough.

“It’s… it’s just Pete, actually.”

He’s not sure why that seems important, the distinction, of all the things that race through his mind. Patrick doesn’t bother to say anything to that.

 “I just came by to give you this.”

He pulls out an envelope and throws it down on the counter, too. When Pete picks it up he finds it full of money, neatly stacked inside. It looks fresh out of an ATM, not one bill crumpled.

“What is this for?”

“The removal you did. I want to make sure I don’t owe you anything.”

Pete’s hands shake a little, form the nerves and he balls his free hand into a tight fist to repress the tremor.

“You don’t, I told you-“

“Yeah, well. You lied to me about everything else.”

Patrick’s voice sounds so different from before. Colder, not a hint of the sweet tones Pete grew so accustomed to.

There’s a noise from behind him and Pete thinks it’s probably Joe trying to sneak out to give them some privacy. As if that would make anything better, as if that would change the outcome of this conversation. And as if he wouldn’t be listening in from the next room anyway.

“I wanted to tell you. But you were so clear about the whole thing.”

 “Shut up! I can’t- I don’t want to hear it.”

It’s the first time Patrick’s voice strayed from the controlled coldness he showed since he walked in.

But Pete can’t shut up because he feels he will not get another chance to explain himself. And even though he lied to Patrick, he had good intentions in mind. It might not count for a lot, but he has to get it out.  

“What choice did I have? You mean to tell me, that if I had said _'hey, I'm your soul mate, let's spend the rest of our lives together_ ' you wouldn't have run?”

The more he says the angrier he gets somehow. Pete hadn’t known he was angry about this. Sad – yes. Conflicted – sure. But angry is new. But he is, angry that is, because all he did, he truly did for Patrick.

 “I'm everything you never wanted. “

His own voice is rising now, too. He feels like screaming, he hates this calmness.

“You even hated just my name. So I swallowed everything I wanted to say and gave you what you wanted.”

“At least you got one thing right, you are everything I never wanted and your name had been on my skin for far too long. It makes me sick to think my name will be on your skin forever!”

They stare at each other, Patrick glaring with his arms tightly crossed and Pete holding on to his composure by a thin thread and a crinkled envelope he’s squeezing in his fist. Patrick doesn’t say another word, just turns around and leaves the shop, probably for the last time.

It takes a few seconds for Pete to really get what just happened. All that he feared the last few weeks just blew up in his face. Patrick knows and – as expected – hates Pete for it. He’s not sure thing would have went different if Pete had been honest from the beginning.

But what does it matter? Patrick hates him and he hates everything about him. Now he just has a face to go with it. And Pete has a tattoo that will remind him of that forever.

“I’m sorry, man.” Joe says.

Pete hadn’t heard Joe come back. Just as he thought Joe heard everything. At least it saves Pete from retelling what happened, because he’s really not in the mood to talk to anybody. He just wants to hide away for a bit and drown in self-pity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, was this build-up obvious? With the note before? I don't know, I can’t tell. You tell me! And tell me if you liked it or not. 
> 
> Or shoot me an ask on my [tumblr](http://thatguyinachiffonskirt.tumblr.com/) (still self-promoting, because nobody else does)


	6. Forever and ever and ever and ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the heartache, but thanks for the comments; they made me feel bad and made me laugh at the same time. I hope this makes everything better.

Pete feels like he’s dying. Or he’s already dead and this is hell. His own personal hell, dressed up as a normal day in his shop and Pete being really, really hung over.

It’s possible that he’s just hung over though and this is not actual hell. He can’t tell because his head is screaming at him and his stomach is still deciding if the bagel he had this morning was a good idea.

He should have left the bar last night before the girl he was talking to turned into three girls and before he needed to bend over the bushes outside the bar.

But at least he wasn’t moping around alone in his apparent. After the big showdown in Pete’s shop and Patrick storming out he allowed himself two days. Two days to hide away in his apartment, leave the shop in Joe’s hands, eat nothing but junk food and question his whole existence. Or something like that.

But at the end of day two he stopped wallowing and got out of bed. Everything else would be ridiculous. He barely knew Patrick and Patrick barely knew him. They talked like- what, three times? Nothing to obsess over. Pete might have waited for his soulmate, but it’s not the end of the world.

Well, Pete might also be in denial.

And he had a great time since then. He worked and functioned and spent lots of time with Joe and Marie, eating home cooked food for a change. Maybe he’d gone out a little more and maybe he’d drank a lot more, but well, there’s no one complaining.

Except Pete’s hung-over self right now.

And neither is Joe with his gloating face looking at Pete. He takes too much joy out of Pete’s misery.

The bell over the door is especially cruel to Pete whenever someone decides to come in – just looking around to leave without saying anything.

When the bell over the door rings once again and Pete looks up he wishes he hadn’t.

It’s Patrick standing in his shop – a familiar sight even though he hadn’t been here in weeks – staring at him. Since the last time Pete hadn’t heard from him again, not that he expected to.

For a moment Pete has the urge to hide his arm behind his back but then remembers that isn’t necessary. He’s got nothing to hide anymore.

Silence is stretching out between them, its deafening and even though Pete’s head is grateful for the quiet it’s just so uncomfortable. You could hear a needle drop it’s so quiet.

And because Pete is speechless once again when it comes to Patrick Joe steps in, just like the day Patrick came in for his first session.

But Patrick is only looking at Pete when Joe asks him why he’s there and he’s still looking at Pete when he answers.

“I heard that a great tattoo artist is working here, goes by the name Ace?”

Pete feels like his head is repeatedly bashed against the counter that’s standing between him and Patrick. The scene before him doesn’t make any sense. Pete is not really up for more confrontations.

“Listen, I’m not in the mood for games, my head is spinning and there’s a high chance my breakfast is making a reappearance any moment. What do you want?”

“I want to talk.”

Pete purses his lips. He would ask what Patrick wants, but with Joe being there he’s not sure he wants to hear the answer just now.

“Follow me.”

Pete waves Patrick over and steps into the backroom, not waiting to see if Patrick follows. He throws Joe, who seemed to have blended perfectly into the background, a glance. Pete is sure someone will be listening near the door, but he doesn’t really care.

When they’re both once more alone in the backroom and Pete made sure he’s standing not too close to Patrick, it’s another minute of silence and awkward glances.

“You want to talk, talk. But- not too loud, please.”

It looks like Patrick isn’t sure what to say first, he’s twisting his fingers where they peek out under his long sweater sleeves.

“You know what I think about this whole soulmate thing. I’m not… a fan.”

Pete wants to laugh about it, but laughing makes his head feel worse so he squashes the urge.

“To put it lightly, yes.”

He presses his hand against his head because it helps a little with a feeling. So Patrick is here to stomp a little more over Pete’s feelings? Great.

Before Pete can get his thought across there’s a tight grip on his arm. Patrick is right in front of him, all too close, the distance Pete put between them gone. For a second Pete forgets his spinning head.

“What did you do?”

Pete has no idea what Patrick is talking about now and it must show on his face.

“Your tattoo. Your soulmate tattoo, what did you do?”

Oh, right. Pete hadn’t thought about it. With Patrick gone his soulmate-tattoo wasn’t a focal thinking point in his daily life anymore. Even less so after the ink faded completely from Pete’s skin.

Now there’s only a blank spot left where Patrick’s name once was. A prominent hole in the design it was once integrated in.

Pete tries freeing his arm form Patrick’s grip, but to no avail.

“Guess I got rid of it, just like you did.”

The look on Patrick’s face is nothing like Pete saw before. He’s obviously shocked; mouth actually opening and closing without any words coming out and Pete thought that only happens on television. He desperately wants to put some distance back between them but he can’t make himself move. This might be the closest they’ve ever been, so close that Pete can smell Patrick’s cologne and feel the warmth he’s giving up around him. It screws with Pete’s already unsettled stomach.

“Aren’t you happy? Now you won’t have to think about your name on my skin forever. I never asked you for anything, you know. That was you, you asked me out. I was just doing my job.”

“I know. And I thought about it. A lot. That soulmate-thing has influenced my whole life, whether I wanted it or not. And obviously I didn’t even realize how much it influenced me, because when I realized that you… That’s all I could see and it set off an alarm in my head.”

Patrick’s hand is still on Pete’s arm, not holding tight anymore but drawing little circle onto Pete’s skin with his thumb.

“Why did you get rid of that tattoo?”

Pete has no answer. Well, he knows why but he’s not particularly open to sharing that with Patrick.

“Pete.”

It’s the first time Patrick said his name, his real name. It sounds like music to Pete. It trumps every version Pete pictured in his head before. It sounds right. And Patrick is still too close and Pete still doesn’t know why he’s even here in the first place.

“Why are you here?”

“Why did you get rid of the tattoo?”

 “Not everything is about you.”

“Answer the question.”

 “You wanted it gone, so I removed it. Stupid right? You tell me you hate my guts and I’m still-”

The rest of that sentence is swallowed by Patrick’s lips on Pete’s. He’s officially lost to whatever is going on here. Patrick’s kiss might be a cure to hang over. Or world hunger, Pete’s not sure about it. All he’s sure about is the pressure of Patrick’s lips and his hands in Pete’s hair. It’s nothing like he’d imagined their first kiss – not gentle and soft, more urgent and desperate. Like Patrick wants to devour him whole right this second.

When Patrick breaks the kiss – because Pete couldn’t have if his life depended on it – he stays close; close enough that Pete can feel his hot breath on his face.

 “Guess I’m stupid then, too.”

Pete’s head is slowly catching up while Patrick rolls up the sleeve of his sweater. He holds up his arm for Pete to see and his stomach sinks just thinking about the blank spot he himself created, where his name should be.

But when Pete looks at the blank spot it’s not a blank spot. It’s Pete’s name written across Patrick’s wrist in his scrawny handwriting Pete only knows too well.

 “I don’t… I spend hours getting rid of that damn tattoo.”

“Yeah, because it was the name of someone I never met, someone I didn't know and that was chosen for me by.. probably a monkey with typewriter for all we know. But this name. Pete, that’s someone I would love to get to know better.”

Pete looks at Patrick and what he said repeats in his head over and over again. Is Patrick drunk? Is Pete still drunk?

“That’s… crazy. Now you’re stuck with another tattoo you might not want later on.”

“Well, it’s actually just drawn on with a sharpie.”

Pete probably is still drunk. Or drunk again on Patrick.

“I might be falling in love with you.”

Pete doesn’t care that it sounds cheesy and cliché, he just wants Patrick to know it. And he really wants to kiss Patrick again, probably for the rest of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it. I hope you liked it and I hope you enjoyed the ride. This is the first big-ish/multi-chaptered fan fiction I ever finished, so yay me. And yay you for all the nice comments, the kudos and for keeping me motivated. I would, as always, appreciate your comment about whether you liked it or not. 
> 
> Or shoot me an ask on my [tumblr](http://thatguyinachiffonskirt.tumblr.com/) (still self-promoting, because nobody else does)


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